Informatics
A Proposed Ecological Information Management System for the East Asia-Pacific Regional ILTER Network (EAP-ILTER)
The goals of the EAP-ILTER information management are: 1. to create a data legacy for current and future uses; and 2. to provide policy makers with science-based environmental information. Metadata is one of the keys to achieve the goals. A framework of an ecological information management prototype based on EML is proposed, tested, and evaluated over the last five years in EAP-ILTER.
Assessing the IM Training Video Series: Viewer Feedback and Panel Discussion
Panel with Eda Melendez (Luquillo LTER Information Manager), Jonathan Walsh (Baltimore Ecosystem Studies) and Linda Powell (Florida Coastal Everglades)
The development of a series of training videos on information management topics has been initiated. These are available at the IM training video resource link in the working group materials. To guide the content and format of future videos, we invite all ILTER and US LTER information managers to come to this meeting and watch and comment on two of the existing videos. We will also invite information managers with well-established information management systems to participate in a panel discussion about their information management strategies.&
Development of an Ecological Acoustic Sensor Observatory
Humanity has profoundly altered the biosphere in many ways. Pervasive human activities have resulted in the perturbation of the main biogeochemical processes and the massive transformation of the land surface on Earth, leading to the massive loss of biological diversity. It has been suggested that new advances in a combination of acoustic sensor technology and wireless sensor networks will provide a great deal of the spatially dense, near-real time biological observations in ways that were previously inaccessible to ecologists and environmental scientists.
Building an LTER Taxonomic Database to Support Synthetic Research
We propose that an LTER-wide taxonomic database would minimize much of the work of resolving taxonomic differences for future cross-site, network level research projects. The EcoTrends project has built a database to standardize site codes and nomenclature with USDA PLANTS database symbols* and/or the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) taxonomic serial numbers across all participating sites (totaling >1800 plant and animal species at 14 sites). We would like your help to improve, expand, and share it.
LTER Information Management Meeting
Sunday, September 13 Agenda
Business Meeting
9:00 - 9:30 Elections
1.1. any necessary discussions of IMexec members and chair(s).
Potential nominees to Co-chair or chair IMC include: Margaret, Don, Emery
IMexec membership: Todd, John, plus we need a replacement for Barrie
NISAC members to be replaced: TBA
9:30 – 10:00- Planning
1.2. begin planning for future years:
2010 meeting: possible venues
2011 meeting: mission,
Integrating spatial and temporal data across the LTER network
Over the past few years, several LTER-wide projects have created web services to easily find, access and compare long-term ecological datasets (e.g., EcoTrends*) and spatial datasets (e.g., LTER Spatial Data Workbench/CREATE**) across the LTER network; however, temporal and spatial datasets are often stored separately and accessed from different websites. Integrating long-term data and map layers from across the LTER network in a single website could be the next step in improving access to LTER’s rich legacy of both temporal and spatial data.
EcoTrends: past, present, and future - an opportunity to promote synthetic analyses
Join us for an update on the progress of the EcoTrends project, an introduction to the functionality of the new EcoTrends website (http://www.ecotrends.info), lessons learned during the project, and a description of plans for the future. We will also use this time to solicit and discuss ideas on how to better incorporate and display data via database design, web services and tools (e.g., mapping, analysis tools, modeling tools, and customizable features) that will further engage and support the research and information management community.
Publishing the Grasslands Data Integration Database for access to extensive and integrated cross-site ANPP data
Annual Aboveground Net Primary Production (ANPP) datasets represent a core area of research in the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network and many other programs. The Grasslands Data Integration (GDI) database is innovative in that it contains ANPP data from seven sites that are integrated at the level of the species and sampling unit, which facilitates fine temporal and spatial scale analysis of patterns of ANPP and species diversity.
Using social network sites and visualizations to lower the barriers to cross-site and socio-ecological research in urban systems
We propose using this workshop as a follow up session to the Identifying the benefits and barriers to graduate student cross-site socio-ecological research in urban systems GSS workshop. We will focus on developing features for a networking tool that links graduate students doing socio-ecological research in urban systems across the LTER network. During this meeting, we will brainstorm (and possibly test or create) effective networking tool(s) to facilitate students’ cross LTER collaborations and research.
Approaches to Information Management for Schoolyard LTER data
The Schoolyard LTER program supports a wide range of education outreach activities to K12 schools. One way that many sites have adopted is supporting students from local schools in the collection of long-term data near their schools. A recurring problem for sites that support school-level, long-term data collection is the storage and maintenance of the student level data. In many ways, the difficulties that the Schoolyard program has mirror the information management issues that the LTER program has faced throughout its history.
